Method and apparatus for testing flying machines



F. B. CROCKER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING FLYING MACHINES FiledApril 8, 1921 Patented Oct. 21, 1924.

U N H FRANCIS iB. CEQGKER,

OF YORK, Y.

METHOD AND-A?PARA'DUS FOR TESTING FLYING MACHINES.

Appli ation filed Ap i To all whom it con e n Be it known thetl,FRANCIS. B- Geoolme, a citizen of t e United S ates, and a. r el dentofNew York, n the co nty of New ork nd tate o New Y rk, have inven edcertain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Appara us for TeetlngF ylng Machines, of which the following s a $138611 fication.

h'ly invention relates to a method and apparatus for test ng tly ngmaehlnee, more particularly helicopters. The prince.- pal object of myinvention is to perm a tual trial or tef'et of such machines underoonditions of actual fl ght without the de gelS, both to the machine anditeoeeupant, which are generally ln ident tofl1g t- Another objec is topro lde a. method and apparatus whereby the art of flying a helicopteror like machines may be learned in. safety under cond tl n o actua flght.

e ther objects, .te turee nd ad antages will appear more fully in hefollo g detailed description and appended cla ms,

The accompanying drawing for-1 1 g a part of this specificat on ill srat s one e m of apparatus embodylngmy invention an adapted to be u edin carrying outmy improved method. 7

In the d awmg,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the apparatus; and

' Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a de ail o oonstruotion! v Ref rringtothe drawing, a hel oopter 1 has secured to its upper portio the meetends of upper stay P eferably flex ble i e I rope guys 2 and 3, the ouer en s of which areeeoured to uprigh s, such as the posts 4: and 5.Other stays 6 and 7 preierably also wire rope guys, a e secured a the rinner e ds to he lower por ion of the hellopter and at their oute endsto the uprights 4 and 5 Th re may be al owed suite oient sleek. in theguys 3, 6 and 7 to P r m a limited am nt of mo ement: of the helicopterup end do n and lso late a ly, hat is, at a ang e to the vertical; sothat the helicopter may rise and desoend s 111 actual flight to alimited extent and may also be tilted so s to assume the sua properposition eorr eponding to hori ontal mo ementv It is desirable, ho ever,in perfor ing ertain kinds of ests, to have the guys sub tially taut;and my invention includes 1921, Serie11lo-459,. 29.

means whereby the amount of slack in the guys may be adjusted or variedwith facil ty. The guys have, asshown in Fig, 2, threaded end members 8which are adapted to move longitudinally in their supports but are heldagainst rotation by suitable means such as splines 9 coactingwithlongitudinal grooves in the respective members 8. As shown, a gear10, which is held against axial movement by the arms 11 and 12 oi a sn 3aortin bracket secured to an n ri ht is eaded upon the memb r 8. Byrotation of the gear 10 the member 8 will b mo ed longitudinally to varythe slack in the cor responding guy. For rotating the gear 10 I haveshown an electric motor 14, the shaft of which s provided th gear l5meshing th he gear 10. The controlling means for the moto may beonnected th reto as. by"

a conductor contai ing a c b e 16, so that. the starting and stopping ofthe motor may b ontrol ed by' the operator of the helicopte from thefuselage l7 thereoh Each of the guys, as shown, is provided with suchmeans f r adjus ng the length there f a In testing the apparatus t isdes r b to know the" f rce with which the hel copter tend to rise andalso the. fo ce with which it t nd to move laterally. For de ermin leghe fo ces 1 pr ide s ta le means, i

seen sp ing balances l8 and .1 preferably of very moderate extensibilityA balance 18, as. shown, is s u ed o each o the guys 2, 3, 6 and? o tope mit readymeaeure 136.111; of the force tending to move the helicopterhorizontally. The balance 19 is, as own, detaohably secured to a m mber20 which may be a rod anchored o the ground at. i s o r end anddeteohably connected as by a. c mp .21 at ach d to the lower portion ofthe bellanee t hatever e tical peelio the helic pter may be- Whenever iis not d sired to measure the-lifting f rce. of

the helicop er, t e member 20 may bed eeonested from e balance by meansof th clamp 21. I Q

Desirably the apparatus, will be posi tion d so tha the usual tmo phericcur rents may be allowed to strike the fly ng Inahine or be sh elded. fom it. by eo ens- For facilitating testing I p ovi e means sueh as thefan 22 for producing air ourrente artificially. he fan 22, asehown, prod ees a la eral or side cu rent of air on the machine. Means aredesirably provided whereby the air currents may be measured,

may be made.

in the drawings the anemometer 24 is arranged to measure the speed orforce of side currents of air from or upon the helicopter and theanemometer 25 to measure the speed or force of the down draft from thehelicopter.

Among the advantages of a helicopter is the ability tohover or remainsubstantially stationary in the air. To determine and indicate to theoperator whether there is any vertical movement of the machine, and ifso how much, during the testing or trial thereof, 1 provide means suchas the graduated. measuring rod 26 which, as shown, is secured to theground by universal joint 27 and slides loosely through a collar 28 uponthe fuselage 17. The vertical position of the flying machine can beobserved by noting the graduations on the measuring rod in connectionwith the sleeve 28. The latter fits upon the rod 26 sufliciently looselyto permit the desired movement of the helicopter.

I also provide an indicator 29 for measuring the angle of tilt of thehelicopter.

In practice, the helicopter having been secured to the slackened guys 2,3, 6 and 7, with the member 20 detach-ed from the helicopter, the latteris free to move vertically a limited extent. In Fig. 1 the helicopter isshown in solid lines in its intermediate position and (in part) indotted lines in its upper position. The upper guys are shown in dot anddash lines: in their lower position. In its lower position, as shown,the helicopter rests upon platform scales 30 for Weighing the same andsuch live or dead weight as may be car ied thereby. It will be seen thatthe helicopter is always held by the flexible members 2, 8, 6 and 7against upsetting, that is, in the form of apparatus shown, it is alwaysretained in a substantially up right position. The helicopter may be tiled to the position corresponding to horizontal flight by any suitablemeans such as is shown in'application of Peter Cooper Hewitt, Ser. No.304,190, filed June 14:, 1919; and the angle of tilt may be varied byadjusting the effective length of the guys. By control of the motors ofthe. helicopter the latter may be caused to move either up or down; andinasmuch as it is free to move laterally to a limited extent, testsunder substantially the conditions of actual flight A beginner can beleft to learn the art of flying a machine without 7, any danger andsuitable side currents may be produced artificially so that he may gainexperience under varying atmospheric condltions. The operator of themachine may control the permissible amount of movement of the machine byvarying the slack in the guys so that as successful flight is learnedthe amount of permissible move ment may be increased. In testing theapparatus the amount of force. tending to move the machine laterally andvertically may be determined from the balances 18 and 19 respectively,the guys being desirably substantially taut. ever way produced, aremeasured by the anemomete-rs 24 and 25.

The uprights t and 5 need not be of great height but they may, ifdesired, be made of considerable height so as to insure freedom from theeifect of the ground below upon the air currents. While only twouprights at opposite sides of the helicopter are shown, a greater numberthereof with stays there for may be provided.

Many modifications other than those described above may be made Withoutdepart ing from the spirit of my invention.-

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is: 1

1. The method of testing a helicopter, which consists in supporting thehelicopter to permit only limit-ed lateral and up and down movementthereof, operating the same while so supported, and measuring the aircurrent from the helicopter during the operation thereof.

2. The method of testing a. helicopter, which consists in supporting thehelicopter to permit only limited lateral and up and down movementthereof, directing an air current on the helicopter, operating the samewhile so supported and measuring the force tending to move thehelicopter.

3. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting meansthe-refor arranged to prevent upsetting thereof and adapted to permitlimited tilting and up and down movement thereof.

4. Apparatus ,for testing a flying machine, such as a helicopter,comprising fixed uprights on different sides of the flying machine andupper and lower flexible mem bers secured to each of said uprights andadapted to be secured to the flying machine to hold the same uprightwhile permitting limited up and down and lateral movement thereof.

5. Apparatus for testing a flying machine, such as a helicopter,comprising flexible means normally fixed at one point and adapted to beconnected with a slack therein at another point to the flying machine,and means for varying the effective length of such flexible means at thenormally fixed point thereof, said means including controlling meansaccessible to an occupant of the machine. I

6. Apparatus for testing a flying machine, such as a helicopter,comprising flexible members each normally fixed at one point and adaptedto be secured at another point to the flying machine, and means forvarying the effective length of such'member at The air currents, inwhat- Elm ' prising supporting means therefor arranged to permit onlylimited tilting and up and down movement thereof, and means formeasuring the force tending to move the helicopter.

9. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting meanstherefor arranged to permit only limited tilting and up and downmovement thereof, and means for measuring the force tending to move thehelicopter laterally.

10. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting meanstherefor arranged to permit limited tilting and up and down movementthereof, and means for measuring the lifting force of the helicopter.

11. Apparatus for testing a flying machine, such as a helicopter,comprising flexible members having a. slack therein and each fixed atone point and adapted to be secured at another point to the flyingmachine to hold the same against upsetting While permitting limited upand down and lateral movement thereof, and means. for.

measuring the tension produced in any of said members by the flyingmachine.

12. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising anchoring meanstherefor arranged to prevent upsetting thereof and adapted to permitlimited tilting and up and down movement thereof, and means formeasuring the air currents adjacent the helicopter.

13. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting meanstherefor arranged to permit only limitedtilting and up and down movementthereof, and means for directing air currents on the helicopter.

14. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting meanstherefor arranged to permit only limited tilting and up and downmovement thereof, and means for indicating variations in elevation ofthe helicopter.

15. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting meanstherefor arranged to prevent upsetting thereof and adapted to permitlimited tilting and up and down movement thereof, and means forindicating variations in the vertical position .and tilt of thehelicopter.

16. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting meanstherefor ar-.

ranged to prevent upsetting thereof and adapted to permit limitedtilting and up and down movement thereof, and means for indicatingvariations in the tilt of the helicopter.

17. Apparatus for testing a helicopter comprising supporting means;therefor arranged to prevent upsetting thereof and adapted to permitlimited tilting and up and down movement thereof, and means for Weighingthe helicopter.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANGIS B. ORO'CKER.

